TheAgitator.com
Dunkin’ Dhimmitude
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
Michelle Malkin scores the scalp of . . . celeb chef Rachel Ray.
Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.
Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott.
The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.
Said the suits in a statement: ‘‘In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.’’
You’ve come a long way, blogosphere!
All I can say when I read this is W…T….F?
This just proves people like Malkin are crazy xenophobic idiots. The idea that that scarf she wore in that commercial had anything to do with terrorism? Come on.
A friend of mine who has lived for years in Vienna told me that the banks there recently ended a long tradition of giving away free piggy banks on a certain day every year to their customers. The reason? The cute little pigs might be offensive to Muslims.
Why am I reminded of that story? *shrug*
And the keffiyeh is worn by normal people in the Arab world too, not just terrorists…mainly because it keeps the dust out of your nose and mouth. Hell, our own troops sometimes use keffiyehs…does that mean they support terrorism too?
You’ve got to love the irony of Michelle Malkin being one of the most enthusiastic race-baiters in the blogosphere…considering that her parents were immigrants from a country known for trotting out plenty of its own Islamic terrorist groups.
Maybe somebody should stick her on a watch list…anyone that incapable of recognizing her own hypocrisy is clearly unstable.
It just looks like a scarf to me. Much ado about nothing. (As is the standard mode of operation.)
“You’ve come a long way blogosphere” — do you mean that now blogs are important enough to be able to engage the populace in ridiculous fear mongering in a way that only conservative talk radio used to? Or was it sarcasm?
I think this article makes it evident that the blogosphere is well on its way towards intellectual irrelevance. (Except, of course, for the Agitator.)
The way the commercial blogosphere works is that you have to keep striving to get your name in the major media. If you stop getting the big boy’s attention you eventually fade away.
Bloggers like Radley Balko and Andrew Sullivan do it by writing stories for reputable (well, mostly) publications so that people can get a taste of their philosophy and then push the readers back to their websites for more.
People like Malkin don’t really create anything of their own, they just use the mainstream media to convey their latest incendary rants. Malkin contributes almost nothing other than a somewhat pretty face and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get attention.
Baseless conjecture here…but the vast majority of Dunkin Donuts (in the DC area anyway) do seem to be operated by people of apparent middle eastern descent.
I wonder if that is the real issue that the right wing loons have with the company. They think Dunkin Donuts is how they sneak all the terrorists into the country.
Hey, I found a picture of Lauren Bush wearing a keffiyeh… She must be a terrorist!
http://www.gothamcityinsider.com/2007/10/lauren-bush-rocks.html
“let’s make erroneous controversy for self-preservation and legitimizing my ego”.
i think the biggest flaw with republican apologists and mouthpieces is that they dont’ know when to pick thier battles.
#6 –
I can tell you that her approach is a hell of a lot more lucrative!
So these people threatened a boycott for a commercial where a white woman is wearing a scarf that maybe-sort-of-not-really looks like something worn by Arabs.
I guess they would have threatened to burn down Dunkin’ Donuts if they had actually dared to use a real Arab person in a commercial. Now not only do you have to speak English to live in America, you apparently have to be white and where only American clothes to be in a commercial.
I can’t even begin to guess how these idiots justify this absurd position.
Er, where = wear. I’m too tired to spell. I bet Malkin wants me deported, as that would be a mistake someone who’s maybe an illegal immigrant might make, and we can’t be looking soft on illegals!
Ah, Michelle Malkin.
Never underestimate the Power of Stupid.
It’s a pretty scarf. It’s a shame that it has a black and white pattern that might resemble something that is popular in the Middle East. And by “shame”, I mean to say, “is this what some people are willing to lower themselves to?”
The foamers need to find something to work themselves into a froth about. I suppose this will work as well as anything.
Baseless conjecture here…but the vast majority of Dunkin Donuts (in the DC area anyway) do seem to be operated by people of apparent middle eastern descent.
I wonder if that is the real issue that the right wing loons have with the company. They think Dunkin Donuts is how they sneak all the terrorists into the country.
Back when I lived in Ohio, I noticed the same thing too. Weird.
rachel ray is hot
i would so hit that
Just once I would like to see a company stare this crap down rather than folding like a lawn chair.
“A spokesperson for Dunkin Donuts said “Ms. Malkin is an idiot. We do not care what her opinion is. Anyone who is put off by this scarf should not come in our stores.”
Hell, I’d mail order some freakin’ Dunkin’ Donuts if they had had the balls to do that.
(Only Krispy Kremes near me)
Since we are getting one (perhaps) biased view here, it’s probably best to get the other end of the spectrum biased view by reading Michelle’s actual comments on the matter:
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/28/the-keffiyeh-kerfuffle/
This does not mean I agree with her, I just think folks should examine both sides before condemning something. Whatever happened to being able to respectfully hold opposing views?
I heard about this last week so, not being a reader of her blog, I read the linked post in the story and really didn’t see anything resembling all the uproar.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/23/of-donuts-and-dumb-celebrities/
Charles Johnson notes, and many readers have e-mailed about, Dunkin Donuts’ spokeswoman Rachel Ray’s clueless sporting of a jihadi chic keffiyeh in a recent DD ad campaign. I’m hoping her hate couture choice was spurred more by ignorance than ideology.
Is Ray’s blunder worth boycotting DD over? I’ll be interested to hear the company’s take. At this point, I’m going to give the management the benefit of the doubt. They have braved boycott threats and attacks over their lonely, principled stance against illegal immigration. Given their pro-rule of law, America first position, I highly doubt the executive offices are filled with moonbats who endorse Ray’s keffiyeh chic.
Her comments don’t seem to be all that rabid.
The 3rd and 4th paragraph is a quote from malkins original story.
If the only idiot here is MM, why did DD pull the commercial? If there truly was nothing to be concerned about from either a commercial, or PR, perspective, DD should’ve held their line and kept the commercial…….me thinks DD must’ve had other information available to them, other than the sage advice of these here bloggers……..
For those who think Mrs. Malkin is being wronged, here’s what she said on her site.
The keffiyah is a scarf worn by people all across the Middle East because it is useful in keeping dust out of your nose and mouth and because the Middle East is full of fucking dust. The only people who claim the keffiyah is a symbol of terrorism are
a) racist idiots who think that anything even vaguely reminiscent of the Middle East is a commentary on terrorism,
b) stupid people who can’t be bothered to come up with a useful opinion when they run their mouths,
c) Michelle Malkin.
d) all of the above.
Chris in AL has it exactly right, I don’t know why anyone bothers to take her seriously because she’s nothing but a shrill little troll. Dunkin Donuts should tell her and anyone who listens to her to go to hell.
Should have rephrased that to “anyone who agrees with her”. Plenty of reasonable people listen to her so they can ridicule her later on.
[...] Bush must be a terrorist Since for so many it’s clear that Rachael Ray and Dunkin Donuts are… Image found at [...]
Keffiyehs are evil! We must wipe the french foreign legion and TE Lawrence off of the face of the earth! NOW!
I have almost no respect for Malkin and even I think she can do better than this.
Girl needs a vacation.
B,
She can’t take a vacation, SOMEONE has to let the world know what’s *really* going on or before you know it America will have been taken over by the liberal/homosexual/secular/affirmative-action/Muslim/Islamofacsit/aetheist/Democrat/anti-semetic/pot-smoking coalition. You don’t want that do ya? If Dunkin Donuts gives an inch, the United States will fall.
Seriously, she’s a hysterical nut, but her commenters are batshit crazy and scare me.
Well, after I read David Codrea over at “the war on guns”
then, our humble agitator,
then, I read Michelle.
But then, I don’t walk in lockstep with anybody.
I haven’t though found any left-wing moonbat sites that aren’t so full of invective and BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) as to be worthwhile reading.
But for those unfamilier with dhimiitude this is another good one – “dhimmiwatch”
#21
The black and white crossed patterned keffiyah is a scarf worn by people all across the planet in support of the palestinian cause. If Ray had worn a red one (like I have), a plain white one, or any other variety of color then it wouldn’t have even been questioned.
I hate to repeat, and I’m no fan of Malkin, but it’s hard to see where she said anything outrageous, unreasonable, or rabid. I find her to be frequently way over the top but in this case I don’t see where she said anything wrong.
http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php?aid=166
“For those who participated in the massive demonstrations against the war in Iraq, the black and white checkered cloth worn around the head and shoulders of many demonstrators was a familiar sight. This cloth is the Palestinian kaffiyeh. It is the headdress traditionally worn by Palestinian men.”
Tokin,
So what you’re saying is that it’s okay to denounce anyone who wears a black and white checkered scarf as a terrorist? Where do you stand on accusing people who have green sheets on their bed of sleeping under the Libyan flag? Or on accusing people who use white sheets of secret membership in the KKK?
She smeared a celebrity and a business over somebody wearing a scarf that looked like something any male living in Palestine might wear. It was inflammatory and beyond ridiculous and she deserves to be insulted for saying it.
And if it wasn’t Rachael Ray’s scarf, it would have been some other non-issue Malkin roiled up. The girl’s an attention whore…she doesn’t care what she does to get the attention. That’s why I suspect that someday she’ll end up as a contestant on one of those British “reality” gameshows where D-list celebrities try to milk another minute or two of fame…like “Celebrity Big Brother” or “Celebrity Love Island”. Perhaps Flavor Flav will be kind enough to give her a job on whatever train wreck TV show he’s doing once she drops off the radar…just so she won’t have to relocate to another country.
“Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.”
That should summarize it.
Oh by the way, the keffiyeh, and the shemagh, are getting popular among bitter, God-fearing gun-clingers such as myself:
http://search.cheaperthandirt.com/search?q=shemagh&site=firsttest&txthide=1&output=xml_no_dtd&client=firsttest&btnG=Search&access=p&ip=69.146.199.107&proxystylesheet=firsttest&getfields=price&getfields=image&oe=UTF-8&filter=p
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=shemagh&x=0&y=0&tag=associatizer-99
http://www.uscav.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=7193&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&cm_mmc=Google%20Base-_-Products-_-SF-_-V1
There seem to be a lot of gun-clingers interested in them.
At $15, I could use a couple, though in colors other than the Palestinian-symbolic black and white. They appear to be practical in the high plains of Eastern Wyoming, which are blown with strong dusty winds.
Seems like some folks are getting worked up over something slightly more than nothing but still not enough to call something, again. I wish people would just keep their frigging pants on.
jwh,
“If the only idiot here is MM, why did DD pull the commercial? If there truly was nothing to be concerned about from either a commercial, or PR, perspective, DD should’ve held their line and kept the commercial…….me thinks DD must’ve had other information available to them, other than the sage advice of these here bloggers……..”
Yes, they had other information. Specifically, they knew that the country is filled with hysterical idiots who will make a lot of noise if not appeased, and that ditching the ad and pretending to feel about setting off the hysterical idiots was a cheap way to shut them up.
Proctor and Gamble changed their logo- which they had used for over a century- because of religious nutjobs who were claiming that it was a covert reference to the Beast of the Book of Revelations. Does their failure to “hold the line” mean there’s probably something to that claim, too?
ah. so malkin is an asshole for making an over-the-top slam of rachel ray for wearing something malkin doesn’t like…..
but balko is a righteous defender of freedom for continually slamming scalia (”scalia’s new professionalism”) for having once said something balko didn’t like.
got it.
#30
I’m not sure how I got stuck defending malkin and I don’t know why you and I keep going around but here we are again. You almost got it with your sheet analogy. If someone is wearing a sheet over their head,in blackface, or a swastika on their purse, then yeah they should have it pointed out to them that that really isn’t appropriate. I didn’t link that specific patterned keffiyah to the palestinian cause, the palestinians and the rest of the world did. Trying to wave it off as “everyone in the M.E. wears one” is disingenuous.
Maybe you could point out in her statement what she said that you have a problem with. What EXACTLY did she say that was out of line? The fact that she said she was willing to give the business the benefit of the doubt hardly makes her statement incendiary or over the top. She didn’t call for a boycott or firebombing she asked for an explanation. Her statement doesn’t even rise to the level that starbucks/slutbucks campaign did a couple of weeks ago. Just because someone is a tool doesn’t mean everything they say has to be blown out of proportion.
BTW, not to you exactly but the others, how did my post #29 get negative karma? Pointing out reality hurt peoples feelings?
#34,
While I reject Malkin’s entire worldview, I think it might be a more comphrehensible complaint if Ray was wearing the same scarf Yasser Arafat used to sport. But it isn’t even the same scarf, which is why even if the PLO=Nazis it would still be different than your example of swastika bedsheets.
Hold on here, so you’re saying I can show my displeasure with how the Israelis treat Palestinians (walled in cities, restricted travel, no economic potential) by just wearing a scarf?
AWESOME!
Where do I find one of these?
One thing that bothers me about this whole blowup is the assumption by Malkin et al that the average person is as wrapped up in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict/GWOT/Liberal as she is. It would never occur to her that for 99% of people, a scarf is just a scarf rather than a symbol of support for a cause in another country.
And that’s leaving aside the fact that the U.S. is not(has never been) at war with Palestine.
So I can go ahead and wear a Che Guevara T-shirt?
You people and your little thumbs-down buttons. Meh.
Let’s send keffiyahs to Michelle Malkin!
That woman is in more desperate need of a lay than any woman in Western civilization. Except Ann Coulter.
Seriously. All that sand in her vagina is backing up into what is left of her brain.
Tokin,
If she was willing to give the business the benefit of the doubt, she never would have brought it up. There is absolutely zero reason to tie Rachael Ray to Palestinian terrorists. She’s a celebrity cook who endorses cooking products and to my knowledge she’s never uttered a single word either for or against anything that happens in the Middle East (nor has Dunkin Donuts). But yet Malkin felt compelled to make that statement in a national forum, question the chain’s political leanings because their apolitical pitchman wore a scarf, and demand an explanation. How is that giving Rachael Ray or Dunkin Donuts the benefit of the doubt?
Nor does somebody being a tool mean that we should give them a pass for the stupid things they say. But you do bring up a valid point…in fact I think I’ll just go back to ignoring her. Discussing it is probably counterproductive anyway if the goal is for her to go away.
Damn. I thought that paraphrase of Robin Williams’ line in *Good Morning Vietnam* was choice. Where’s the love, people?
This video kinda proves my point. The only person on the planet that can make bill o’reilly (and his female clone malkin) look contemplative, moderate, and intelligent….Olbermann.
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=104583
I lost any respect I might have had for Malkin when I read this post a couple of years ago, in which she told William F. Buckley to “shut up.” (*)
Buckley was not a saint who couldn’t be questioned, of course, but I’m pretty sure Michelle Malkin, whose only claim to fame is being an attractive conservative minority woman, isn’t the one to do it.
(*) And yes, I recognize that she was quoting the words “shut up.” But she endorsed them, and directed them at Buckley.
David,
Personally, I’ve never found shallow, screeching harpies to be all that attractive. Physically, maybe so, but her personality and the crap she spouts make her a hag to me.
While on the one hand I think that connecting any black and white checked scarf to terrorism is a stretch, such scarves HAVE been marketed with that explicit connection. And I must admit I get a little tired of the airhead fashion for Mao jackets, Che shirts, and other romanticizing of mass murdering thugs.
I think people like Malkin are overreacting, but I think they are overreacting because they are legitimately sore at a media establishment that fails to criticize – or even notice – celebrities with clothes and etc. connected to trendy leftwing murderers.
I doubt Dunkin’ Donuts and Rachel Ray had any intention of using the scarf for nefarious symbolism.
Still, am I the only one who thinks that the fringed scarf looks like something a grandma would wear? It’s not something to put on an attractive woman in her 30s. I’d have canned the commercial for purely aesthetic reasons.
UCrawford: I sympathize with your position; for instance, I never “got” the idea that Ann Coulter was supposed to be attractive. I don’t think Malkin is quite at the same level, though.
Tokin:The black and white crossed patterned keffiyah is a scarf worn by people all across the planet in support of the palestinian cause. If Ray had worn a red one (like I have), a plain white one, or any other variety of color then it wouldn’t have even been questioned.
The problem is that both premises are untrue.
1) She wasn’t wearing a “black and white crossed patterned keffiyah”; if you look closely, you’ll see that while it is black and white, it isn’t the pattern in question.
2) And in fact Malkin and others do not limit their denunciations to people wearing black and white ones, even if you assume she just made a mistake about what Ray was wearing.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/05/30/1211654279497.html
This scarf isn’t the same thing either, but it’s close. Notice who complained and the reasonings btw.
(someone is gonna have to fill me in on the quote tags because I can’t seem to get them to work in firefox)
“…”A Palestinian customer came up and asked me if I’m wearing this scarf as a fashion statement or for political reasons.
“I had no idea what he was talking about because I don’t follow politics at all. I just laughed it off.
“Two days later he called and complained about it.”"
I find myself wondering if they are going to bew checking our underwear to see if the color or pattern is POLITICALLY CORRECT!
Just make sure you listen to your mom…ALWAYS WEAR CLEAN DRAWERS! Ya never know.
So I decided to check my wardrobe for POLITICAL CORRECTNESS…so far I have been forced to discard 10 pairs of pants, 8 pairs of capris, 5 blouses, 3 pairs of socks, 2 headbands and a PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!
Perhaps we should consider wearing CELLOPHANE!
By the way, don’t we have more important things to think about like say for instance, what restaurant are we going to tonight…or what’s playing at the Cinema?
If you wear black anbd white, you represent terrorist…blue, it’s the Cripps gang, red, the Bloods…
I was going to wear rainbow colors…but would that mean I represent homosexuality?
Obviously, I need some FASHION ADVICE! Maybe the NUDISTS have had it right all along.
Wait a sec…that might be a color too.
Someone HELP ME, I have NOTHING TO WEAR!
Geesh…GIMME A BREAK!
While I am on a roll and the subject…speaking of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS…
Not sure where this came from but I wanted to SHARE it:
“Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,
illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream
media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible
to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
‘Nuff said.